Darning mechanism



Nov. 22, 1932. A. E. GIBBES DARNING MECHANISM Nov. 22, 1932. A, E,@|5555 1,888,917

DARNING MECHANISM Filed Jan. 9, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Nov. 22,1932 UNITED STATES o ALBERT EDWARD GIBBES, F SYDNEY, NEW SOUTH WALES,AUSTRALIA DABN ING MECHANIBM Application led January 9, 1931, Serial No.

, This invention relates to improvements in` darning mechanism moreparticularly for repairing silk hosiery and which may be incorporated ina sewing machine of usual construction.

rlhe invention has been devised primarily .to provide means whereby thedarning may be rapidly effected and whereby the crossed rows of stitchesforming the darn may be lo evenly s aced to efle'ct a neat re air.v

Acco ing to the invention in its preferred application to an ordinarysewing machine, the table or bed of the machine has a rectangular guideplate secured to it.

On this guide plate there is a carriage provided with means for holdinga darning ring which may be of usual construction and in normaloperation of the machine is reciprocated transversely over the guideplatey by said holding means, the carriage bein advanced step by stepfrom left to rig t or vice versa at the end of each stroke. The extentof travel in each case is under the control of the operator.

The transverse motion ofthe holder for the darning ring is eiected by ascrewed shaft mounted in the carriage transversely of the machine. vThere may be two or more of these shafts having screw threads ofdifferent pitch so that a choice of speed is available.

Said shaft or shafts is or aredriven say, by the balance wheel of themachine flexible driving means such as a bowden w1re bein preferred forthis purpose. Suitable toothe gearing is inter osed whereby the motionof the holder may Ihe intermittently reversed at will on movement of alever situated in a convenient position say at the base of the machinehead. 4 Where more than one such shaft is em plo ed there would be apawl for each ivoted Y Y to t e holder for the darning ring anadaptedtobe thrown intoengagement with its res ective shaft. p

e step by step motion of the carriage,

507,895, and in Australia January 14, 1980.,

longitudinally of the machine, is effected by a. worm mounted for manualrotation b a hand lever, said worm indirectly engaging a rack bar fastto the carriage. Means are associated with said Worm tl allow of itsbeing thrown out of engagement with the rack bar, when it is desired tomove the carriage freely, longitudinally of the machine.

Preferably a darning attachment of the spiral spring type is substitutedfor the usual 5g presser foot on a sewing machine head, and to preventthe thread from being caught in the shuttle race the bridge pieceusually screwed thereto is soldered or otherwise closely secured inposition. a

But in order that the invention may be clearly comprehended and readilycarried into practical effect, reference will now be made to theaccompanying drawings wherein 65 Fi re 1 is a perspective view showingthe application of my invention to a sewing machine head of well knownconstruction, from which the usual feed mechanism has been Y removed theusual attachments being indicated in broken lines.

Figure 2 is a plan of the machine illustratcd in Figure 1'.

Figure 3 isan enlarged perspective view of one form of the holderemployed, in accordance with my invention, to receive the darning ring.

Figure 4 1s an enlarged plan view of the carriage with its cover removedto reveal the internal mechanism thereof, and showing portion of theguide plate above which the carriage travels.

Figure 5 is a sectional 5 5- in Figure 4.1

elevation on line Figure 6 is an enlarged front elevation 95 showing the.mechanism for securing lon tudinalmvement of the carria e and orreversing the traversing motion o the darninnr ring holder. f

lFigures 7 and 8 are right and lefty hand 9 end elevations respectivelyof the mechanism seen in Figure 6.

The machine head 9 (Figures 1 and 2) has its base 10 hinged to a woodenbed 11, so that it may be raised in the usual manner for replenishin thebobbin.

It will e seen that the presser foot and feed mechanism of the machinehave been dispensed with, in favour of a darning attachment 12 of thespiral spring type, which latte is carried by the needle bar 13. y-

A ide plate 14 secured to the base 10 has a ra' 15 provided at its rearedge to support the rear end of a carriage 16 which is capable of beinmoved longitudinally over said guide p ate.

The to one end of a. shaft 17 on which it is suprted. The shaft 17 isslidably mounted in rackets 18 and 19.

There is also a rack bar 20 secured to the carriage 16, alongside theshaft 17, and this passes through a slot 21 in the bracket 18 and isengaged by a spur pinion 22. The pinion 22 and a worm pinion 23 are faston a shaft 24 as shown more particularly in Figures 1, 2, 6 and 8.

Normally the worm pinion 23 is engaged by a worm 25 on a shaft 26 whichis mounted in the brackets 18 and 19 and is capable of beingintermittently rotated by a hand lever 27 mounted concentrically uponthe shaft 26. When the lever 27 yis depressed it partly rotetes-theshaft 26 and the pinion 28 by means of a pin 127 and ratchet teeth 128one of which is shown in Figure 6. The pinion 28 meshes with a pinion29, the function of which will be hereinafter explained. Onsaid lever 27being released it returnsto its normal position under the action of aspring 30.v

A 'leaf spring 31 engaging a square 32 on the end of the shaft 26 servesas a detent for the shaft.

In order to allow of the carriage 16 being moved freely, longitudinallyof the fnachine, the shaft 24 which is provided with a crank handle 34and the shaft 26 is mounted in a slotted bearing in the bracket 18 andis adapted to be raised and lowered by movmg forward a hand lever 33,the upper portion of which is caused to follow the curved face of theupper edgeY of the bracket 18 and by its forward movement disengage theworm V2 5 from the worm pinion 23. In this position the carriage 16 maybe moved independently of the mechanism under the control of the lever27, by merely rotating the crank handle 34 in the desired direction.

Referringagain to the carriage 16 it will front end of the carriage 16'is securedn 'adj usted beneat the usual manner to a stocking or otherarticle to be repaired.

rlhe holder 35 is mounted upon'a rack bar 37, Figure 4, slidably carriedon a shaft 38 arranged longitudinally in the carria e 16.

The rack bar 37 see Figures 4 and 5 1s engaged by a worm 40 which ismounted on a spindle one end of which is capable of bein raised in itsbearings by a hand lever 41 whic is pivoted to the carriage 16. The worm40 is also adapted to engage a worm 42 keyed to the shaft 38.

When one end of the spindle of the worm 40 is raised, the worm 40remains in engagement with the rack bar 37 but is disengaged from thedriving worm 42.

The shaft 38 is coupled to a flexible driving shaft 43 whose other endis connected to a spindle 44, (see Figure 2) capable of being ereciprocated horizontally in its bearings 45, 46 for the purpose ofbringing crown wheels 47 and 48 alternately into engagement with adriving pinion 49, the latter being geared, by means of belt 50 whichpasses over a cone pulley 51, and roun'd a pulley, not shown,'

sion of the hand lever 27, is rotated through' an angle of 180. Y

To facilitate re air of the V shaped portion of slipper heell stockings,a triangular graph 59, for use lwith a pointed 60 may be engraved in theguide late 14 as shown in Fi ure 4, the pointer 60 ing attached to theho der 35. In employment of the mechanism illustrated, the stocking orother garment to be repaired is wrapped around a darning ring in theusual manner, with the portion to be repaired disposed approximatelyinthe centre of the ring.

The ring is placed within the arms 36 of the holder 35, and the carriage16 is moved to the right or leftby the handle 34 after first movingforward the lever 33 to disengage the worm 25 from the pinion 23.

When the ring has thus been satisfactorily the needle bar 13, the ma-Ychine may be started, when the ring will be moved transversely of themachine in the` direction depending on which of the two crown wheels 47and 48 happens to be in engagement with the driving inion 49.

The len h of each row o stitches formin the darn 1s controlled b thehand lever 2 which when depressed a vances the carria e 16 a step motionof the holder 35.

and atA the same time reverses e v` 180 After the d portion of the hasbeen crossed y a plurality of parallel rows of stitches the darning rmgis moved within the arms 36 so that a second series of parallel rows ofstitches, at right angles to the first may be added to comp ete thedarn. It will be readil seen that a tri ar darn may be eifecte bycontrollin the ever 27 so that the tip of t e pointer will not movebeyond the boundary of the triangular graph 59.

I claim: 1. Darnin mechanism comprising a sewing machine ead of the kindreferred to, a carriage mounted slidably on the machme bed, a holder fora darnin ring supported on the carriage said holder aving a rack barengaged by a pinion rotated by a exible shaft said shaft being driven bone of a pair 2 of crown wheels capable of being brought alternatelyinto engagement with a driving pinion.

2. Darning mechanism comprising a sewing machine head of the kindreferred to, a

\ carria e mounted slidably on the machine bed, a older for a darningring supported on the carriage said holder having a rack bar engaged bya pinion rotated by a flexible shaft said shaft being driven by one of apair of crown wheels capable of being brou ht alternatcly intoengagement with a riving pinion, and hand operated tooth gearing foradvancin the carriage step by step longitudinally of le machine bed andfor simultaneously reversin the movement of the rack bar for theholdexi.g

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

ALBERT EDWARD GIBBES.

